Hell Hath No Fury
by newyork24-7
Summary: It was only meant to be a small favour, but sometimes the smallest of things can have the biggest of consequences.
1. Chapter 1

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**Another idea that's been floating around my head for God only knows how long.**

**Not sure how quickly updates will be with this, but I'll try not to be too slow.**

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**I own nothing.**

* * *

_Jealousy is a disease, love is a healthy condition. The immature mind often mistakes one for the other, or assumes that the greater the love, the greater the jealousy - in fact, they're almost incompatible; one emotion hardly leaves room for the other. _

Robert Heinlein

* * *

Jackie's mouth twitched in amusement as she noticed Robbie attempting to skulk into the office without being noticed. Luck however was not on his side today, as Burke barked out, "Ah, Robbie, nice of you to finally join us."

He glanced up and shot him an apprehensive grin. "Sorry Boss, traffic."

Burke snorted. "I'd have had to have come up the Clyde on a banana boat to believe that one. Now straighten yourself out and try doing some actual work for a change."

Dropping into his seat, Robbie rolled his eyes at his Boss's departing back. "I see someone's his usual sunny self."

Stuart didn't answer him, while Jackie pointed her pen at him and informed him, "You've buttoned up your shirt wrong."

Glancing down, he hissed out, "Ah, Hell." Placing his coffee onto the desk, he casually began to fix the problem.

"Good night then I take it?" Jackie asked, trying to look as though she wasn't too bothered by whatever the answer may happen to be.

"It really wasn't what you think," he insisted. "I slept in, I spent the night fielding off calls from an ex and I was tired." As if on cue his phone beeped, alerting him to arrival of a new text and he groaned as he looked at the caller ID.

Smothering a laugh, she replied, "I thought you enjoyed all the attention."

"There's a limit," he muttered darkly.

"Well my heart goes out to you," she laughed.

He regarded her thoughtfully. "You know you might be able to help me out with this one."

"No," she replied automatically.

"Come on Jackie, you don't even know what it is yet!"

"I don't need to, I already know that I'm not going to like it."

He got up from his seat and moving over to her draped his arm over her shoulder. "She's just not taking the hint."

She shrugged his hand off. "And neither are you."

"I need your help here, and may I remind you Detective Sergeant Reid that part of your role is to help the public, I'm a member of the public."

Sending him a sharp glare, she let out an annoyed sigh. "Fine, what is it?"

"Need you to be my girlfriend for a bit."

Jackie arched an eyebrow at the request, while Stuart's reaction wasn't quite as subdued as he choked on a mouthful of coffee. "Robbie, as flattering as that proposition was, can I please get back to work now?" she asked as she threw Stuart over a packet of tissues.

"I'm being serious," he laughed. "If she phones again, you answer and tell her that we've just gotten back together, that we're giving things another go. You know, make it sound like we're madly in love."

"Would you like me to cure world hunger while I'm at it?" she asked sarcastically.

"It won't be that difficult!" he insisted. "Look, Jackie I told her it was just a fling but she's somehow got it into her head that we're the real deal. I need out and I need out fast, she's a bunny boiler."

"Oh well in that case…no."

His phone began to ring, and after looking at the caller ID he held it out to her, brown eyes wide. "Come on, it's just one tiny little favour."

Rolling her eyes, she snatched the phone. "You owe me big," she informed him.

"Yup, I know." He flashed her a grin and moved swiftly back round to his own seat to watch the show, while Stuart leaned forward.

Grimacing at the phone, Jackie took a deep breath before answering, "Hello. No, I'm sorry he's too busy to come to the phone just now, can I take a message." She glowered at Robbie as she listened to the agitated woman on the other end of the line, before answering her. "I'm his girlfriend. We work together. Look I know about your fling, he's already told me about it. I appreciate your concern but we've decided to try again, so I really think that you should stop calling him. It isn't going to change anything." She stared at the phone and gave a small shrug as the woman hung up abruptly. "Well she's gone," she informed him as she handed the phone back over to him.

"What did she say?" he asked as he tucked the phone into the pocket of his suit jacket.

"She asked how we met, told me she'd been sleeping with you for around three weeks now and tried to tell me that it was her that you really loved." Jackie frowned slightly. "She sounded a bit…"

"Deranged?" Robbie offered.

"I was going to say distressed," she tutted in reply. "And are most woman who sleep with you not normally a bit odd anyway."

"Very funny." He pulled a face at her. "Anyway she'll get over it, move on and find some other poor sod to torment."

"I don't know," Jackie teased. "I mean she does have a fair point, three weeks is practically an engagement in your world."

Robbie struggled not to smile. "Watch it, remember I'm still the superior officer."

"Nope, just the higher ranking one."

* * *

**Three hours Later**

"Looks like he was beaten to death," Gemma informed them. "From the bruising on his face, I'd say someone stamped on his face. If you look closely you can see the print of the sole of his shoe."

"I think I'll pass," Burke replied shortly. "Do we have a time of death?"

"Not yet, but I'll get one for you. What I can tell you is that his assailant would be covered in blood, and quite probably injured as well." She indicated at the victims hands. "These scrapes on the knuckles are from fighting."

"So it was a fight gone wrong rather than an attack?" Stuart asked.

"I would say so. Oh and I found this in his pocket." She handed them over a blood stained wallet.

Pulling on a glove, Jackie took it and opened it. "Well at least we now have an ID and know that robbery wasn't the motive."

Burke nodded. "Right then, you and Robbie go to his address, see if you can a next of kin to inform about his death."

Nodding, Jackie turned to walk in the direction of the car, pausing when she realised that Robbie wasn't following her and rolled her eyes when she saw he was too busy laughing with Stuart about something. "I'll meet you in the car," she called over to him.

She saw him nod out of the corner of her eye as she stepped out of the alley and into the street. The next thing she was aware of was pain splintering through her as she saw the sky flash momentarily across her field of vision before everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

_How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it._

Marcus Aurelius

* * *

Her fingers curled around the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white. When she'd heard the words that they worked together she knew she had to see this woman for herself, and she'd known it was her from the moment she'd laid eyes on her.

They'd left the building together and she'd watched them talk and laugh together, saw his hand brush briefly against her arm, her face tilting upwards to look at his as she smiled at him. As for Robbie, he looked happier than she'd ever seen him. She swallowed back a wave of nausea, it was such an easy and familiar intimacy and it hurt her so much more than she ever thought such innocent touches could.

She followed them unthinkingly, parking down the street from the crime scene and watching as they headed into the alleyway together. And even though she knew that it was work related she felt as though someone was twisting a knife in her stomach, rubbing salt into the wound. He should be with her, she loved him so much more than anyone else ever could, why couldn't he see that?

She was unsure of how long she sat there for, just watching and waiting, for what she didn't know, all she knew was that she just couldn't look away, even if it was killing her to see it.

Finally the woman stepped out into the street, alone. Her knuckles cracked as her grip tightened even more on the steering wheel and she recalled the casual way that she'd spoken to her that morning. Asking her to leave Robbie alone, leave them alone, as if it was so damn easy! She didn't have a right to him, she'd stolen him and now she had the nerve to tell her to stay away! While she swanned around with him, touching him, laughing with him.

Her blood boiled. She started the engine. Her foot slamming down on the accelerator. She was angry, so damn angry with both of them, wanted to wipe the smile from their faces.

The woman didn't even turn in time to see her coming, making a sickening thump as she hit the windscreen, the glass cracking from the force.

She didn't so much as pause and for a brief moment she felt satisfied as she sped away.

* * *

"I'll meet you in the car," Jackie called out to him.

Robbie nodded, slapping Stuart on the shoulder he laughed, "Well have fun."

The younger man grimaced. "Oh yeah, always do."

Chuckling to himself, Robbie turned to follow Jackie. He was only a few steps behind her, was almost in the street when the car smashed into her, sending her over it's bonnet and flying back down to the ground with a thud. He yelled her name over the shocked cries of passers by, running over to her crumpled form. He could hear Burke and Stuart behind him, calling out, as he crouched beside her, pressing his fingers against her throat, he let out a deep breath that he didn't even know he'd been holding in as he felt her pulse beat beneath his fingertips.

His eyes travelled up to her bloodied face and he swallowed heavily, his hand landed gently on her shoulder. "Jackie?"

She didn't move, her eyes staying resolutely shut. "I've called for an ambulance," Burke informed him. He looked up and down the street. "What the Hell happened!" he barked.

"Car came out of nowhere," Robbie told him quietly. "Didn't even try to stop." He could hear that Burke and Stuart were still talking, but he had no idea what they were saying, it was just noise to him.

He was unsure of how long he was crouched there next to her before the paramedics arrived. He just suddenly felt himself being tugged back. "Come on Robbie, let them do their job," Burke said, his hand resting on his arm. "Nothing you can do just now."

Robbie whipped round to face him. "We need to find who did this."

Burke's jaw gritted. "I know that, and if you'd been listening you'd know that I've already got officers asking if anyone got a description of the car."

Slightly bewildered, Robbie looked around and saw that he was telling the truth, that some of the uniformed officers who had been watching the crime scene were now amongst the crowd, asking questions. A pale looking Stuart came up behind them. "Do…do you think this has anything to do with the case?"

"We can't rule it out," Burke murmured.

Robbie shook his head, crossing his arms across himself, rubbing agitatedly at his chin as he watched the paramedics work. "I'm going to go with her," he announced suddenly. He didn't want her to be alone and he needed to make sure that she was ok.

"Aye, alright then," Burke replied. Robbie was clearly agitated, his mind focussed solely on Jackie, and he wasn't going to be of any help to them when he was like this.

He didn't even look at them as he followed Jackie's stretcher into the back of the ambulance. He glanced at the paramedic as they shut the doors. "How's she doing?"

"She's stable," she replied, offering him a small smile, her hand patting his shoulder comfortingly.

Frowning, he asked, "What does that mean, exactly?"

"It means that we'll know a lot more when we get her into the hospital, but at the moment she's not in any immediate danger."

He frowned at the words 'at the moment' and glanced back down at Jackie's face, most of it was obscured by the oxygen mask or the straps that ran across her forehead, holding her in place in case she'd hurt her neck or spine. Her pale skin was marred by smears of blood from the tiny cuts caused by the windscreen and a nasty looking graze on one side of her cheek. Feeling sick and blinking rapidly, he rested his hand over hers. He couldn't believe that this had happened, it felt as though they'd only just been talking and laughing together, and now she was lying unconscious. Looking up at the paramedic again he asked, "Will she be ok?"

The woman looked up from the paper she was writing on. "I can't give you an answer to that just now. We really do need to get her to the hospital."

His foot tapped agitatedly against the floor, he felt worse then useless. "Can I do anything?"

"Do you know her details, address, date of birth?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Then when we arrive at the hospital you can give in her details at the front desk, that would make things easier for us."

He nodded. "I'll do that."

The rest of the journey passed in relative silence, the only noises coming from various machines. It felt like it took them hours to get there, when really it only took minutes. As the vehicle screeched to a halt, he watched dry mouthed as they whisked Jackie away through the automatic doors.

Feeling strangely detached he did as the paramedic asked and then found himself being shown into a small side room. Letting out a deep sigh, he dropped into one of the chairs scattered about the room and stared at the clock, praying for good news.


	3. Chapter 3

_Revenge is sweet, sweeter than life itself - so say fools_

Juvenal

* * *

As the ambulance screeched away, Matt heard Stuart approach him again. "What is it?" he asked gruffly.

"Uniform managed to get a licence plate number, it was a blue Ford Focus registered to a Gillian Drummond."

"You get an address."

"Yes, Sir."

"Then let's go and see if she's in."

Stuart looked at him in surprise. "We're going to go?"

"Well she's not about to question herself, is she?"

He flushed. "I just meant that I thought we'd be going to the hospital."

Matt turned to look at him, his face stony. "We can't do anything at the hospital, but what we can do is find whoever's responsible and nail them to the wall," his voice took on a harsh tone at the last couple of words and he stared intensely at the younger man. "Look I understand if you don't want to be here, and if you want out then all you have to do is say, because if you're not going to give this your full attention then no offence but I'd rather you didn't stay."

"I'll come with you," Stuart replied decisively. He wanted whoever had done this more than he could vocalise, Jackie was one of his closest friends and he couldn't believe that someone could have done something so callous as to leave her lying injured in the street.

"Good lad." Burke patted him on the shoulder. "Come on then, let's get over there."

* * *

Pulling up outside the tenement building, Stuart drew in a hiss of breath between his teeth. "There's the car, Sir." Nodding, Burke heaved himself out of the car and walked around the neatly parked vehicle, his lips twisting as he took in the cracked windscreen. Stuart merely stared at it and shook his head. "Why would she just park it here? She must have known that this is the first place we'd look."

"We don't know that she's responsible," Burke told him. "So let's not make assumptions." He turned on his heel and stomping towards the door hit the call buzzer.

A female voice floated over the intercom. "Hello."

"Miss Drummond, this is DCI Burke from Maryhill CID, I'd like to have a word with you."

"Fine," the voice replied calmly. "I'll let you up."

The outside door was already open, waiting for them, while a petite blonde stood leaning against the inner door, waiting on them. She arched an eyebrow. "I wondered how long it would take you to find me." She glanced down at her wristwatch and made a small noise in the back of her throat before concluding, "Not too shabby."

Stuart and Burke exchanged a look. "Why do you think we'd need to find you?" Burke finally asked.

She gave a small laugh. "Perhaps this conversation should be conducted inside rather than on my front doorstep," she suggested.

"Lead the way," Stuart told her.

They followed her into a pristine living room, all white walls, wooden floors and modern art. She dropped down onto a white sofa and lighting a cigarette, waved her hand for them to sit. Burke ignored her offer and repeated, "So why do you think we'd want to talk to you?"

She let out an exhale of smoke. "About that woman of course, the one I ran over with my car."

"You're admitting it!" Stuart blurted out, shocked.

"Why shouldn't I?" she shrugged, her pretty features twisting and taking on a sharp malicious edge. "After all she did deserve it."

"Why did she deserve it?" Burke asked calmly, an emotion that he certainly wasn't feeling at that particular moment in time.

Her eyes flashed, her shoulders heaving indignantly. "She stole him! He wasn't hers to take, I love him! I don't deserve to be thrown out like I'm yesterdays rubbish. I saw them together, laughing and joking just after she'd warned me off him. And he wasn't any better, ignoring my texts, telling me stop calling, insisting that it was over. If it wasn't for her then he would never have left me, we'd still be together. He needs to know how much I love him, that I'd do anything for him and that I won't let anyone get between us." She stared at them calmly as she proclaimed, "She got what she deserved."

While Burke merely looked slightly perplexed by this speech, alarm bells were ringing in Stuart's head. "Who's he?" he asked her quietly.

She frowned at him, "Robbie, of course. Don't pretend that you don't know."

Letting out a disgusted snort, Burke reached out and grabbed hold of her forearm, hauling her to her feet. "You're coming to the station with us."

* * *

His foot tapped anxiously against the shabbily carpeted floor as he continued to stare at the clock, it had been almost an hour now and he'd heard nothing. His hands squeezed together tightly as they rubbed against his mouth, surely he should have heard something by now.

As if someone could read his thoughts, the door clicked open, a smartly dressed man stepping inside. Robbie all but jumped to his feet.

The man extended his hand, "DI Ross, I presume. I'm Dr Thomson I'm overseeing Miss Reid's care."

"Right." He shook the proffered hand jerkily, asking, "Jackie…is she ok?"

"She's stable."

"What the Hell does that mean?" Robbie snapped, he was sick to the back teeth of hearing that damn word.

"I appreciate that you're worried about her, but patient confidentiality-"

"Screw patient confidentiality!" He pinched the bridge of his nose tightly as he let out a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "Just tell me the basics, if anyone asks you can tell them it involved the inquiries we're making."

The Doctor eyed him for a moment before replying, "X-Rays have ruled out any neck or spinal damage. Her CT scan was also clear, but she's still unconscious, something we hope will resolve itself soon, as a result we're keeping her under constant observation to ensure that if a bleed develops we catch it quickly-"

"Bleed?" Robbie interrupted.

"Yes, sometimes there can be a slow bleed on the brain that isn't obvious at first, now while we have no reason to believe that one will develop, her lack of consciousness is slightly worrying, and at the moment is our main concern. Aside from that she escaped with minor injuries, some bruising to her ribs which will cause some discomfort when she comes to, a broken collarbone, and some cuts and bruises to her face that will fully heal."

Robbie nodded shakily. "Can I see her?"

"If you follow me through you can sit with her until we arrange a transfer up to a ward."

He followed the doctor through into a small curtained off area, and lowered himself slowly into the hard plastic chair next to Jackie's bedside. He frowned as he took in her battered face and noted with some concern that the oxygen mask was still present. Reaching out he took her hand, running his thumb over her scraped knuckles.

The nurse looked over from the monitors that Jackie was hooked up to and told him softly, "You can talk to her if you want, she might be able to hear you."

"Wouldn't know what to say," he mumbled tiredly, his eyes not moving from her face.

* * *

Everything hurt. Jackie let out a low grumble as she realised just how much she did hurt. What the hell had happened? She felt like she'd been set to with a baseball bat.

Hearing a rustling noise beside her, she blinked open her eyes, snapping them shut again when she realised the bright lights were aggravating what was rapidly becoming a pounding headache.

"Jackie?" She heard Robbie's voice and belatedly realised that someone was holding onto her hand, their grip tightening slightly.

She tilted her head in the direction of the noise and forced open her eyes again to look into Robbie's tired and lined face. He shot her a smile. "Finally decided to rejoin the land of the living then," he quipped.

She opened her mouth to reply, grimacing when it hit her that her mouth was as dry as ash. "What-" She broke off as the sound of her hoarse voice was lost in the oxygen mask.

"Ah, Miss Reid, you're awake," an unfamiliar voice proclaimed. She turned her head to look into the smiling stranger's face as he continued, "I'm Dr Thompson, do you remember what happened to you?"

"No," she choked out.

"You were hit by a car, you're currently in The Western's A&E department, you've been unconscious for almost two hours now, been keeping us all on our toes."

He looked up and over at Robbie. "If you could wait outside for a few minutes."

Robbie nodded, now that she was awake he felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest. He squeezed her hand again. "I'll just be outside if you need me, I won't be gone long."

She gave him a nod, her eyes closing over again as the action caused a fresh wave of pain to break over her. She didn't remember a car, she remembered being at the crime scene and then nothing. She heard Dr Thompson's voice intrude on her thoughts again as he asked her to open her eyes again. Part of her wished he'd just leave her alone, she was so tired, but she did as he asked, knowing he was only doing his job and immediately wished she hadn't when he shone a bright light directly into her field of vision.

* * *

"I want to know exactly what she was talking about," Burke growled at Stuart as they drove to the hospital together, having deposited Gillian in a cell to await being interviewed.

Stuart shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. "She's Robbie ex, well one of his flings," he amended himself quickly. "She was getting clingy and wouldn't accept it was over, he…he asked Jackie to speak to her over the phone this morning, pretend that they were together, ask her to keep her distance."

"Jesus! Bloody Robbie and his women!" He smacked the steering wheel with the heel of his hand. He shook his head, this was going to cause no end of trouble, no doubt he'd have a guilt ridden Robbie attempting one of his crusades, and this time Jackie wouldn't be on his heels, hauling him back.

As if his thoughts were travelling along the same path, Stuart asked, "Should we tell him?"

"We don't really have a choice, he'll find out eventually, better it comes from us."

"You think she'll be ok?"

Burke shot him a sidelong glace. "She's tough," he replied enigmatically as he swung into a free car parking space.

* * *

They found Robbie in the waiting room, sipping at a plastic cup of coffee, he grimaced as he looked up at them, "This stuff's crap."

"Aye it will be. How is she?"

"She's just came to, Doctor's in with her the now. Apart from the concussion she's got a broken collarbone and bruising to her ribs." He frowned. "They're keeping an eye on her in case she has a head injury. She seems a bit out of it."

"So would you be if you'd just been smacked by a car." Burke sat down beside him.

Looking at him through narrowed eyes, Robbie told him, "Whatever it is you want to say to me, just spit it out, Boss."

"We found who was responsible."

"Who is it?" he asked sharply.

"Woman called Gillian Drummond." He watched as horrified realisation dawned across Robbie's face. "She got it into her head that you and Jackie were an item, she wanted revenge and she took it first opportunity she got. Look, Stuart's told me what happened and it wasn't your fault," he told him, "You couldn't have know she'd react so badly."

"I knew she was jealous though," Robbie muttered. "I should have kept Jackie out of it, should never have got her involved, I-"

He was interrupted by the Dr Thompson approaching them. He indicated that they should step to the side, and informed them quietly, "Well it looks as thought she's had a lucky escape. She's a bit groggy but that's to be expected and should clear within the next few hours, she's showing no signs of confusion, and apart from not recalling the accident, which isn't unusual, her memory's also good. We'll still be moving her up to the ward to keep an eye on her, but I see no reason why she shouldn't make a full recovery." He smiled encouragingly at them. "So if you want to sit with her you can." With that he left the small group.

Burke patted Robbie's shoulder. "You comin' in then?"

Biting down on his bottom lip, Robbie shook his head. "No, need to go see Gillian, need some answers."

"Don't do anything stupid," he warned him harshly.

"I won't Boss, tell Jackie I won't be long."

Burke watched the DI warily as he left the department. Turning to Stuart he nudged the younger man forward. "Come on, leave him to this one. Even he can't cause to much damage when she's already locked in that cell, and uniform won't be stupid enough to leave him alone with her."

"Yeah," Stuart replied. "Yeah, you're right."

"Usually am," Burke grinned.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for the reviews so far, I always like to hear opinions. I've tried to reply to everyone but if I've forgotten you I'm sorry and I'll try better next time lol.**_

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Love never claims, it love ever gives; love never suffers, never resents, never revenges itself. Where there is love there is life; hatred leads to destruction.

Gandhi

* * *

The curtains around her bed rustled, causing Jackie to open her eyes. She gave a small smile as Burke and a rather pale looking Stuart slipped inside the area. The young detective eyed her almost warily. "How are you feeling?"

She tried to shrug and winced, belatedly remembering that her collarbone was broken and her arm was in a sling. "I'll be fine," she told them through gritted teeth, her head still felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool while someone played the drums against her temples.

Burke looked her over. "Aye you look it," he remarked.

Jackie blinked over at him, her face hurt too much to either smile or glare. "Oh you lot are really charming," she mumbled. A frown - or the closest she could get without wincing - played across her features. "Where's Robbie?"

"He…um had something to do," Stuart replied awkwardly, sharing a glance with Burke.

She stared at them. "Spit it out before it chokes you."

"We found who was driving the car that hit you," Burke informed her

"That was quick."

"They didn't exactly try to cover there tracks."

"Right, so who was it?" Jackie asked. "Was it connected to the case?"

"No, no it wasn't. It was a woman called Gillian Drummond, you spoke to her this morning."

Something clicked in Jackie's head as she took in her colleagues somewhat grave expressions. "His ex?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Stuart nodded. "She followed you both to the crime scene, she wanted revenge."

"Does Robbie know?"

"Yeah."

Her eyes flickered shut for a moment, a mixture of exasperation that they'd let Robbie storm off on his own and sheer exhaustion.

On seeing this, Burke nudged Stuart's arm, prompting the younger man to say, "We'll leave you to get some rest. I wouldn't worry about Robbie, he'll be alright."

Jackie gave a clipped nod, she was too tired to keep up the pretence that she was feeling ok and they didn't look particularly comfortable standing there. Not that that surprised her, they weren't the tea and sympathy types and they preferred to actually be out doing something rather than sitting, watching and waiting.

"We'll come back later," Burke added, shifting awkwardly on his feet.

"Fine," she mumbled, her eyes closing over again.

* * *

Stuart drew his bottom lip in-between his teeth. "I can see what Robbie meant, she's not…" he trailed off, struggling for the words. He'd hated seeing her like that, the normally self assured Jackie looking somewhat dazed and confused, covered in bruises.

"She's been through a lot, give her some time," Burke replied.

"So what now?"

"We still have Gillian Drummond to charge and then we get back to the case, we can't just grind to a halt because of this," he growled.

"Yeah, yeah," Stuart muttered, staring out of the passenger window.

* * *

The heavy lock of the cell door clicked open loudly, and on hearing it Robbie turned to the uniformed officer next to him. "You can leave now," he informed her shortly.

She shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

He drew in a sharp breath and shot her a glare. "Fine," he muttered distractedly as the door opened.

Gillian's head snapped up, her stiff posture relaxing when she saw it was him, a smile playing across her lips she got quickly to her feet and tried to move closer to him. He held his hand up, indicating that she should stay where she was. She did so but continued to smile at him. "I knew you'd come," she breathed out happily.

He swallowed back the lump of anger that had gathered in his throat. "Why'd you do it?" he asked.

"I did it for us! She was coming between us, she'd turned your head and you couldn't see that it's me that really loves you. I had to do something, you might think you love her but-"

"Stop!" Robbie barked, his voice echoing off the walls of the cell. "Jackie is a friend and a colleague, nothing more."

"No, she told me-"

"Because I asked her to, as a favour, to try and get you to realise that what we had was just a fling."

She shook her head. "No, no we're meant to be together, we can have a future together-"

"No, we can't." He ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "You could have killed her!"

"So what if I had!" Her face twisted. "I saw the way you acted together, it wasn't right." She shook her head, her voice beginning to border on hysteria. "You were never like that with me, you always kept me at a distance, but with her! With her it was like she was the only one you could see, I wanted that, why couldn't you be like that with me?"

Robbie stared at her, feeling the exhaustion seep through him. "I thought that you knew it was just a fling," he shrugged tiredly. "I didn't mean to hurt you, but what you did was wrong and she didn't deserve it. You're going to jail, you know that don't you?"

She nodded, her eyes locking onto his face hopefully. "Will you come visit me?"

"No." He shook his head as he turned to leave the cell. "No, I won't." And as he walked down the corridor her screams of rage and frustration echoed around him.

* * *

Hearing something rustle next to her bed, Jackie opened her eyes and was surprised to find that the room was dark apart from the small pool of light provided by a bulb near the side of her bed. Her eyes flickered in the direction of the noise and she was surprised to see a rather rumpled looking Robbie slouched in the chair next to her. He shot her a somewhat apprehensive smile. "Hey, how you feeling?"

"Been better," she admitted candidly. "How long have you been here?"

"A few hours."

"I've been out for that long?"

"Well they've woken you up every hour to check you were ok, don't you remember?"

Her mind flickered back and sure enough the memories of being wrenched from her sleep by irritating questions came rushing the surface. "Now you mention it," she muttered. Her eyes scanned over his tired and lined face. "You look like crap," she informed him.

Her comment prompted a genuine grin. "Well you're not looking too hot yourself."

"At least I have a reason for that."

His expression fell again at that reminder, his hand reaching out to cover hers. "Burke and Stuart told you about-"

"Yeah, they did."

He sighed, his gaze averting from her face to stare at the bed linen. "Jackie…" He shook his head and looked back up at her. "Jackie, I'm so sorry. I should never have involved you in this, it was my mess and I should have been the one to fix it. This was my fault."

She twisted her good hand so that she could squeeze his fingers comfortingly. "You weren't to know what she'd do, it wasn't your fault, Robbie."

He shook his head. "I still played my part in it, I'm not blameless."

Jackie knew she could tell him she didn't blame him until she was blue in the face, and he still wouldn't believe her, so instead she replied, "Let's just move on, it's not been the best of days so I really don't want to dwell on it. It's over and done with, ok?"

"It's a deal," he answered gratefully. "I brought you some things as well, stuff I thought you might need."

"Gin?" she asked, her eyes gleaming.

He pulled a face. "Knew I'd forgotten something," he joked.

"Shame." She attempted to sit up, her attempts hindered slightly by the one arm that was in the sling, her hair falling across her face, prompting an irritated sigh.

Smiling, Robbie leaned forward and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes before helping her sit up and back onto the pillows. "Better?"

"Much, thanks. So what did you get?"

"Usual. Toiletries, a book, some grapes-"

"Ah everything off the invalid's must have list."

"Only the best for you." His face took on a more serious note as he asked, "How are you feeling anyway?"

"Tired of hearing that question."

"Jackie…"

"I'm feeling less groggy, although I still feel like I've been set to with a baseball bat."

"You seem better. You had us all worried earlier. Stuart even bought you flowers but um infection control meant they can't be kept in here, so he's put them at your desk."

"Uh huh." Jackie smiled at Robbie's attempts to keep her spirits up, she knew that hospitals made him uncomfortable. "Robbie, I really am ok, and it's obviously getting late, go home and get some sleep."

"No, it's fine, I want to stay."

"Robbie, I'm just going to go back to sleep."

He looked at her almost thoughtfully and finally nodded. "I suppose I could go back to the station, get some work done."

"Yeah, after all it's always nice to try new things."

He laughed, and leaning forward kissed her forehead. "I've told them to call me at anytime if you need anything."

"I need peace and quiet, so get out," she told him good naturedly.

"I'll see you in the morning," he smiled as he reluctantly left the room.

* * *

At some point she'd drifted asleep again, only to be woken up by someone shaking her uninjured shoulder urgently. "Jackie! Jackie can you open your eyes for us?"

With some difficulty she did as she was asked, realising that the dull ache from earlier was now just sharp insistent pain, and that opening her eyes prompted a wave of dizziness and nausea so strong that she had to shut them again.

She felt someone lift her head up, the oxygen mask being secured back in place. Could hear and feel the rush of the panic that suddenly surrounded her. Their voices were muffled, as if she were under water and getting dragged deeper as everything began to melt away.

* * *

Robbie couldn't help but stare at the bright collection of flowers that Stuart had placed on Jackie's desk. He missed her, missed her presence. Despite the fact that he rubbed along quite well with the Boss and Stuart, it wasn't the same without her.

He tapped his pen against the desk, replaying what Gillian had said over and over again in his head. He'd never given the way he acted with Jackie a second thought, he was just himself around her, didn't need to try and be charming, or constantly be thinking about his next move, his next step, he could just relax.

It had been like that from the very first moment with them, although they had buried the spark of attraction between them and settled for friendship. Now though, now he felt confused, he was certain that he loved her, couldn't really deny the fact any longer, but he had no clue as to how to deal with it. The thought of losing Jackie today had terrified him, but the fear of her rejecting his feelings and destroying the friendship that meant so much to him was equally as paralysing. So he was stuck in limbo, which was actually no different to where he'd been since he 'd met her, it was just that now he was aware of it.

His thoughts were interrupted by Burke's harsh tones asking, "Well what do we have?"

Robbie's head jerked up and away from Jackie's desk. "Gemma called and let us know that it was the stamp to the head that killed him, caused a massive haemorrhage, guy didn't stand a chance."

"I informed his girlfriend, a Samantha Bridges. She was with him for part of last night, they had a row just before midnight and she left him in the pub they were in, one called The Goose in the city centre. She went out with friends instead, alibi's already been confirmed," Stuart informed him. "What she did tell me though, is that Kevin had a bit of a temper and quite often picked fights."

"So it could be that he's picked the wrong guy to mess with this time," Robbie commented.

"Yeah, it looks the most likely," Burke agreed. "Have you pulled CCTV from across the street from where we found him?"

"Done it, just looking through it now, could take a while though, after all we don't know an exact time of death," Stuart replied

"Aye, well just keep at it." Burke turned to look at Robbie. "As for you-"

He was interrupted by Robbie's phone. The younger man hit the answer button. "DI Ross." He listened to the person on the other end of the line, feeling the blood drain from his face. "Yeah, I'll be right there." He hung up and looked up at his colleagues. "That was the hospital, they've just rushed Jackie into surgery."


	5. Chapter 5

_Every man is afraid of something. That's how you know that he's in love with you; when he is afraid of losing you._

Unknown

* * *

The hospital corridors were eerily quiet, there was none of the hustle and bustle that there had been only a few hours earlier. Outside was so dark that whenever he turned his head to look out of the window he could just see the reflections of the three of them, walking purposively, the city remaining obscured from their view by the blackness.

The walk - much like the drive that had preceded it - passed in a heavy silence, there were no words that could quite convey what any of them were thinking or feeling, and none of them particularly wanted to try.

The ward when they finally reached it was also dark and quiet, the only light emanating from above the nurses station, and even that was dull, giving the place a ghostly appearance. Swallowing against the now ever present lump in his throat, Robbie stepped forward, causing the nurse to look up, her expression questioning. "Can I help you?" she asked quietly.

"DI Ross, I was called about Jackie Reid, asked to come in."

The confusion on her face cleared, only to be replaced by one of gravity. "If you'd follow me I'll show into a relative's room, one of the doctor's is on his way to talk to you."

Robbie felt his stomach drop into his shoes. "I want to know now," he rasped out. "What happened? She was fine when I left, in fact she seemed better. Is she…" He trailed off, he couldn't bring himself to say the words, didn't even want to think them.

The nurse eyed him warily for a moment before replying, "She's still in surgery, but the doctor is better placed to discuss the details." She gestured to a door set just off the corridor. "So if you'd follow me," she repeated calmly but firmly.

Robbie gave a nod and did as she had asked, knowing that both Burke and Stuart were directly behind him. They were shown into a somewhat worn looking room, the sofa's faded from age and older, rather crinkled looking magazines strewn over various side table, giving the room an oddly haphazard feel. "Do you want any tea or coffee?" She asked them.

It was Burke that answered, having taken note of the look of blind panic that was going on in Robbie's expression. "No, we're fine."

The door clicked shut softly, leaving them the group in silence once more. Both Burke and Stuart took the opportunity to drop into their chairs, while Robbie moved over to the window, his fingers drumming agitatedly against the ledge. After a minute or so passed, Burke finally snapped, "Would you stop that!"

Robbie glanced down at the offending hand, he'd been unaware that he even been doing anything in the first place and curled his fingers into his palm to stop from doing it again. "Sorry, Boss," he mumbled.

"It's alright."

He shook his head, it wasn't alright; everything was wrong. This couldn't be happening, she'd been fine when he'd left. He clenched his fists tightly, he should have stayed with her. He frowned at his own reflection, he'd lost colleagues before but this was different, God only knew where he'd end up if she wasn't there. It wasn't just the thoughts of self preservation that had him worried about the impact of her loss, it was the fact that he couldn't picture his life without her in it. He was petrified and that sort admission was not an easy one for him to make.

"Bloody Hell, Robbie! You're about to wear a hole in that damn carpet!" Burke barked at him.

Again he looked down to see that he'd been scuffling his shoe across the already threadbare carpet. He stilled his foot and returned to his self appointed task of staring aimlessly ahead of himself.

Finally the door opened, a tired looking young doctor slipping inside and flashing them a polite smile. "You're friends of Miss Reid?" he asked quietly.

"How is she?" Robbie asked, rushing forward. "What the hell happened to her?"

The young man's fingers tapped nervously against the folder he was holding. "If you'd like to take a seat."

"I don't want to take a seat!" Robbie blasted him. "I want to know how Jackie is and none of you lot seem able to tell us anything!"

"Robbie!" Burke's voice blasted through his tirade. "That isn't helping anyone, now sit on your arse," he added in a quieter tone.

The muscle in Robbie's jaw twitched as he tried to decide whether or not comply with the order, but after a tense moment he did as instructed and dropped onto the sofa. On seeing this the Doctor finally began to speak, "Miss Reid's condition began to deteriorate rather rapidly and she was showing signs of internal bleeding in her abdomen. As a result of this she was taken into emergency surgery a little over an hour ago. At this moment in time we don't have any more information to pass onto you-"

"How bad is it?" Robbie asked tersely.

"I don't know the exact nature of the bleed at this moment as I'm not part of the surgical team but her condition is serious-"

Robbie felt his mouth go dry, blood pounding in his ears. "How could you have missed this?" he demanded. "You were meant to be observing her!"

"And we were," the doctor replied calmly. "It was due to these observations that we caught the bleed in time, in these circumstances a patient's condition can deteriorate rapidly and the situation could have been a lot worse."

"I find that hard to believe," Robbie scoffed.

"Ignore him," Burke told the younger man. "It's been a tough day."

"Of course," he nodded. "Look I know it's difficult-"

"Do you!" Robbie exploded, charging forward, only to be stopped by Stuart jumping up and grabbing the back of his suit. "I don't think you have a bloody clue!"

"That's enough Robbie!" Burke yelled.

"I'll leave you alone," the doctor told them, slipping quickly and quietly out of the room.

Both Stuart and Burke pushed Robbie into the chair again. Stuart staring at him tiredly while Burke scrubbed his hand across his jaw. "I know you feel guilty about this," he hissed. "But this isn't the way to handle it."

Robbie blinked as he tried to bring himself back under control. He knew that really he wasn't angry with the medical staff, he was angry with himself. "Yeah I know, Boss," he croaked out.

"Good." Burke nodded, repeating almost vacantly, "Good."

* * *

The hours dragged by, although it was still dark when the door finally clicked open again. Stuart rubbed his eyes blearily as his head jerked up from the arm of the sofa he'd been dozing against after a swift nudge from Burke, while Robbie stood up, his hands burrowing into his pockets, he looked at the unknown woman hopefully. She extended her hand. "I'm Dr Scott, I operated on Miss Reid."

"How is she?" Robbie asked in a rush, ignoring the hand she'd offered in greeting.

Her polite smile not even faltering she let her hand drop back down to her side. "She's doing extremely well, holding her own. I'm not going to lie it was a difficult procedure, we found a tear to her liver and another to her spleen so she did suffer from significant blood loss. However we were able to deal with said tears and she is out of danger. Her blood pressure is still quite low though and to we've set up a blood transfusion to replace the fluid she lost, but she's proved she's a fighter and I'm confident that she'll go on to make a full recovery."

Robbie stared at her, it was the words he'd wanted…needed to hear and now that the adrenaline that had been coursing through him, keeping him going was gone he felt emotionally and physically drained. "Can we see her?" he asked quietly.

"She's still in recovery and she'll probably be there for another few hours at least, but when we bring her back to the ward you can sit with her for a while."

"Thank you," Stuart replied.

Smiling at them once more, Dr Scott left the room, leaving the three men alone once again. Stuart looked at them. "Well that's a relief," he sighed.

Burke clapped his shoulder. "Aye well she's stubborn, should o' known she'd pull through this."

Robbie merely managed a weak smile, lost in his own thoughts as Stuart and Burke talked and laughed together, the tension having dissolved from them in a way that it just wouldn't for him, as the fear that lingered refused to let go of him.

* * *

An hour passed and once again Stuart had dozed off. Burke glanced over in his DI's direction and told him quietly, "Get out of this room, go grab yourself a coffee, get me one while your at it."

He shook his head. "Don't want to leave."

"That wasn't a request. Take twenty minutes and get your head together, you think Jackie wants to come round just to see your miserable face staring at her?"

Robbie's mouth gave a small twitch of amusement. He gave a short nod. "I'll go, but if anything changes-"

"I'll have Stuart running down that corridor as fast as his wee legs can carry him. Now go."

Burke watched as he finally left the seat he appeared to have been stuck to ever since they found out Jackie was going to be Ok. Once the door had shut behind Robbie he let out a low sigh and slumped backwards. This little debacle had taken a lot out of him, it wasn't as easy as it looked to hold everything together, and every other time he'd had Jackie's backing. She was the backbone of their team in a way, she was the one who they turned to when the going got tough and the one they knew would stay calm and collected. Burke repressed a wry grin, yes he was the head of the team, but without the backbone to hold him up they wouldn't be half the force to be reckoned with that they currently were.

The door opened once more and Burke lifted his head to reprimand Robbie for returning so quickly, the words dying in his throat when he saw the young nurse from earlier. She smiled at him. "That's Miss Reid back up from Recovery, if you want to sit with her. She's still pretty out of it, but she's doing well."

Burke gave a nod. "Be there in a minute."

"She's in Room five," she informed him before leaving again.

Giving Stuart's ear a quick tug, he watched as the younger detective sat bolt upright. "What? What's wrong?" he asked, looking quickly from side to side.

"They've brought Jackie back up to the ward, you'll need to go fetch Robbie."

"Fetch Robbie…Why? Where's he gone?" Stuart asked, frowning.

"I sent him to get coffee."

Nodding and mumbling to himself at the thought of a nice warm cup of coffee, Stuart did as he was asked and traipsed down the corridor in search of Robbie, while Burke headed into Jackie's room.

He stood by the side of the bed, the silence in the room disconcerting him slightly. He wasn't quite sure what to say, or if he did say anything if she'd even hear him, or if she heard it if she'd remember it. "You better not pull a stunt like this again," he finally settled on grumbling.

Much to his surprise her eyes blinked opened for a brief moment and it looked as though she was trying to say, "Not planning to." The words getting lost in the mask she wore.

Burke grinned at that. "Always got to have the last word." He looked up to see Robbie walk into the room, a rather breathless Stuart following close behind him. "She's gonna be fine," he informed them confidently. "So I'm going home to get some sleep, I'm too old for this."

"Staying here," Robbie informed his Boss shortly.

Stuart hovered indecisively until Burke whacked the back of his shoulder and informed him, "You're driving, now come on we've still got a case to solve in the morning.

Stuart nodded and asked Robbie, "When she wakes up will you tell her that I'll come see her tomorrow…well today, just later on."

Jackie's eyes flickered open again, her voice slightly stronger this time she informed them hoarsely, "I can hear you, you know." Stuart gave a smile and laughed as he and Burke left the room.

Robbie simply stared at her, his hand moving to lightly cover her fingers. "I'm glad you're ok," he told her. "Thought for a wee while back there that you were going to leave me to deal with Stuart and the Boss on my own," he joked weakly.

"Now that wouldn't be fair on anyone, would it?" she replied, her eyes staying closed.

"Nope." His hand moved to brush her hair off one pale cheek.

Her brown eyes opened again and locked onto his. "You know you don't need to stay, go home and get some sleep."

He shook his head, "I'm staying, you're not getting rid of me that easily."

A smile played about her lips and she gave a small nod. "Ok then," she whispered, her eyes closing over again as she drifted back to sleep, and Robbie felt the tension that had had such a strong grasp on him relax ever so slightly.

* * *

**I think the next chapter will be the last of this story, and then I have an idea for a oneshot and after that I don't have a clue, I'm waiting for a plotbunny to hit me lol.**

**Thank you to those who have reviewed so far :)**


	6. Chapter 6

_A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous_

Ingrid Bergman

* * *

"So it really was just a fight that got out of hand then?"

"Mmm hmm," Robbie nodded.

Jackie smiled, raising a teasing eyebrow. "Just as well it was a simple case, I'd hate to think of you lot struggling on without me."

Robbie shook his head, a smile playing about his lips as he reached out for another of the grapes Stuart had left, only to draw his hand back when Jackie smacked it sharply and shook her head. He stared at her. "That's not nice, I come to visit you and you repay me with violence."

"You've almost finished them!"

"I skipped lunch."

"Not my problem."

He gave a low grumble, but his smile stayed in place as he leaned back in his chair. Three days had passed since Jackie's surgery and he'd been more than a little relieved that she hadn't had anymore setbacks in her recovery. "So, what the doctor's been saying?"

"About?"

"You know what about."

"They think I should be able to go home within the next few days, maybe even as earlier as tomorrow."

He frowned. "You going to be able to cope? You know with one arm." As if to prove his point he inclined his head in the direction of her sling.

"I'll manage," she replied.

"You sure?"

"Christ Robbie, what is this? Twenty questions?"

"I'm just concerned."

"You don't have to be though. Seriously Robbie enough is enough, this wasn't your fault, you don't need to feel guilty and you don't need to feel like you have to spend all your free time sitting here."

Robbie put on a hurt look. "You don't want my company?"

"That's not what I meant," Jackie sighed. "You know I like having you here, but you don't need to feel obligated."

"I don't," he insisted, because it was the truth, he was here because this was where he wanted to be, here with her. "Anyway," he continued. "I was thinking-"

"I'm suitably terrified," she interrupted dryly.

He shot her a mock glare. "You gonna let me finish?"

Her lips twitched with amusement. "I'm sorry, continue. You left off at I was thinking."

"You could come and stay with me, or I could stay at yours, you know make sure that you don't starve, you can't really cook with just one arm."

"I didn't really cook when I had two," she joked lightly.

"I'm being serious."

"Robbie, I hate to be picky but you can't cook either."

"I can call for the takeout, cut things up for you, wash dishes-"

"I have a dishwasher."

He let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm only trying to be helpful."

"And I appreciate it, I really do but you're taking this too far."

"Am I? After all you help me out all the time, you have to admit it would be easier for you. And we've stayed together before, we had a good time if I remember."

"We did," she admitted. "But that was three nights, not six weeks."

He shrugged. "Time flies."

Jackie looked at him thoughtfully, she had to admit that having him around would certainly make things easier, after all it wasn't just the fact her arm was in a sling that made things difficult, there were her bruised ribs and the stitches she still had in, to add to the general awkwardness of doing anything. That and she did enjoy his company, always had. She nodded. "I suppose it could work."

"Great." He grinned at her. "So your place or mine?"

"Mine, last time I saw your place it looked as though a hurricane had swept through it."

"I don't like cleaning."

"That's a great sign given the fact that you're meant to be helping me around the house," she laughed.

He didn't reply, merely smiled as he suddenly reached out and snatched the grapes back from her.

* * *

**Two Days Later**

"I'll be back in a few hours, Boss," Robbie informed Burke as he stepped into his office.

"Jackie getting out today then?"

"Yeah."

"And you're just picking her up?" Burke eyed him suspiciously, sure that he wasn't being told everything.

Robbie smiled wryly, knowing exactly what he was getting at. "I'm going to stay at her place for a bit, help her out around the house."

"Uh huh. Anything I should know?"

"About what?"

Burke tapped his pen slowly off the edge of the desk. He wasn't being told everything and he knew it. He glanced down at his clock. "You better get going then, don't want to keep her waiting."

He watched as Robbie nodded and swiftly left the room. After a moment he got up and walked into the outer office. "Stuart?"

The younger man's head jerked up. "Yes, Boss?"

"Do I look like I button up the back?"

Stuart frowned in confusion. "No, Sir," he replied hesitantly.

"Thought not," Burke grinned as he headed back into his own office, leaving a bewildered Stuart behind him.

* * *

"You got everything?" Robbie asked.

"Yes, although the fact that I don't have much to pack does help," she replied.

He watched as she quickly and deftly zipped the small duffel bag shut. "I…um…wanted to tell you something before we left here," he finally told her.

Jackie looked up at his hesitant tone, it wasn't like him to sound unsure, he wasn't the type, he was normally unbelievably cocky. "What is it?" she asked, her face creased in concern.

He stared at her for a few moments, he'd replayed this moment over and over again in his head for days, unsure of when the right time to tell her would appear and now, now he just didn't think he could hold it in anymore, he had to know if she felt the same. After everything that had happened he realised that he would much rather know how she really felt about him and try and make things work - if they could - instead of simply living with the regret that he'd never been brave enough to take a chance.

So it was a bit of a problem really that the words were sticking in his throat and refusing to budge. She stared at him, frowning. "Robbie are you sure that you're ok?"

Nodding, he took another step closer to her until he was standing directly in front of her, and before she could utter another word he'd slipped his arm gently around her waist and lowered his mouth to hers. He smiled against her lips at her surprised squeak, the tension in his shoulders evaporating when her lips relaxed and she begn to kiss him back, her hand sliding up to cup his cheek, pulling him closer.

After a few moments the kiss drew to its end, but he kept their heads close, their foreheads almost pressing together, he watched her carefully. She blinked up at him in confusion. "That was…um…what exactly was that for?"

"Couldn't really think of the right words."

"What do-" She was stopped by his lips pressing against hers again. For a few minutes her mind blanked out and she couldn't focus on anything apart from what they were doing at that exact moment in time. Finally she had to pull away for breath. "And that time?"

"You were thinking too much," he grinned, his hand tangling into her already mused hair.

"I'm not really thinking about anything now."

"So it worked then."

Trying to ignore the feelings that his thumb stroking across her cheekbone was provoking, she asked, "This isn't just you feeling guilty again, is it?"

"I've kissed women for many reasons, guilt isn't one of them."

"I feel so special."

"That's not what I meant," he laughed.

She smiled at him. "I know." Her expression grew serious again. "So why?"

"Because we've spent ten years now dancing around this and pretending we're nothing more than friends, and because when I was sitting in those waiting rooms all I could think about was the fact that I can't lose you, I really can't, Jackie." He shook his head. "I don't really know how to say it, but I love you." He stared at her impassive face and smiled nervously. "Say something, anything."

"Can't really think of the right words," she replied, a smile breaking across her face as she pulled his lips back to hers once again.

* * *

**Finished, finito. I actually thought it would take me longer but I've had most of this week off.**

**Anyway I'd love to know your thoughts on the finished piece :)**


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